Arkansas Blog: It's official

The U.S. Justice Department has notified Arkansas's congressional delegation that Interim Eastern District U.S. Attorney Tim Griffin is resigning effective Friday, June 1. Jane Duke will become acting U.S. attorney. (This is the assistant in the office who the Justice Department once had said had to be passed over as an interim appointee because of her pregnancy. Since it's illegal to discriminate on account of pregnancy, Justice had to back off this statement.)

Still no word from the White House on selection of a nominee to put through the Senate confirmation process from a slate sent up by Rep. John Boozman.

"This is long overdue and a positive development," said Michael Teague, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor. "Credibility is being restored to the leadership postion at the U.S. attorney's office. We have confidence Jane Duke will do a good job."

Griffin was placed in the job as part of an effort to install picks of Karl Rove in U.S. attorney jobs throughout the U.S. Griffin once worked for Rove. The politics of the move has become more apparent in a succession of congressional hearings. Pryor's criticism of the ouster of Bud Cummins to give Griffin the job and the use of a permanent interim appointment under the Patriot Act helped trigger what has grown into a national scandal. A law to end the president's ability to make permanent interim picks without Senate confirmation now awaits the president's signature.

Pryor had resisted Griffin's appointment without a confirmation hearing because of reports he'd been involved in Republican efforts to suppress black voter turnout in Florida, a critical state in Bush's victories.

No word yet on whether Griffin will join Fred Thompson's presidential campaign or move into the private sector. He had come home to Arkansas in hopes of building a resume for a future political careeer. This episode won't help. What he has to say in the days ahead -- and as Congress' investigation continues -- could have some bearing on his future as well.

Comments

it sounds like fred thompson will hire him which says a lot about his ethics from the start.

Posted by: zonker | May 30, 2007 06:15 PM

Best news I've heard all week! This also removes some of the taint from Mark Pryor. This is also justice for Jane Duke who traditionally should have taken Cummins place when he resigned...er...uh...was booted out the door.

Funny that Griffin was rushed into office the same day Duke was in labor. I think there's a connection there and to the back-dating of Griffin's appointment. It's one giant stinking bowl of rotted fish.

May Ms Duke remember each day she is on the job how slimy her superiors are and the kind of rewards to expect from them in the future.

Posted by: Deathbyinches | May 30, 2007 06:21 PM

For the sake of justice what this Rovemonkey did should be investigated to the nth degree. Then, if possible, any and all possible charges filed against him.

Have Demos lost all their courage and sense of rage?
_

Posted by: Knoc Knock | May 30, 2007 06:43 PM

What is Jane Duke's background? She must be fairly young if she is a new mother.

Posted by: learningcurve | May 30, 2007 06:43 PM

Ole Timmy must have got wind of that Arkansas Times editorial!

ARK. BLOG: Yes! That did it. My early post of our editorial this week made him realize that resistance was futile.

Posted by: durangokid | May 30, 2007 06:43 PM

Ding dong, the wicked witch is Freds..

Boo Yaaaa

Posted by: Eureka Springs, AR | May 30, 2007 07:35 PM

I hope someone monitored all of Tim the cagey vote Grifters activity very closely.... what computer passwords does he have? what files etc..?

Makes me cringe to think of what he could have pulled off with the keys to OUR office,

Was anyone hired or fired by Tim? Why and do they need a special review? All cases this man touched certainly do!!

BTW, Great work Max...

Posted by: Eureka Springs, AR | May 30, 2007 07:41 PM

I received a call from Polling Center last night. Some of the questions dealt with my preference for US Senator - Pryor or Huckabee. Could Huckabee have serious thoughts about running for the Senate? Did anyone else get the call?

Posted by: Commoner | May 30, 2007 07:51 PM

Ding dong, the wicked witch is Freds..'

That is by far the funniest thing I've read on a blog in a long time !

If Fred and Huckabee square off they can debate who has the most corrupt staff, Mike Huckabee's pay day lender as campaign mgr or Thompson's voter suppressor, Timothy.

Posted by: Knoc Knock | May 30, 2007 08:33 PM

I'm so glad this p.o.s. is resigning, but I hope they drag him before any and every panel/court/tribunal/inquisition there is, then drag him before some more.

Posted by: hugh mann | May 30, 2007 09:42 PM

Amen, Hugh Mann.

Posted by: BlueRidge | May 30, 2007 09:44 PM

Although I think his leaving is a wonderful think. It isn't a victory. It's a "gimme"

Mark Pryor didn't help get rid of him. And the Democratic Party didn't get rid of him. He only left because the Republicans wanted him to go elsewhere.

Posted by: spunkrat | May 30, 2007 10:26 PM

And to think I almost went to bed without getting this sweet news...and after the Dems turncoat war vote I needed something righteous to hang on to (except for counting the ways I'm done with em). But I don't get it...there's no way Griffin left even a week early 'cause it was inevitable or the right thing to do. It must be camoflauge for something bigger/stinkier...so I'll just savor the moment!

Posted by: zelda | May 30, 2007 10:34 PM

Ahhh...the excellent effort of The Arkansas Times has paid off!

Good work...

Posted by: rosso | May 30, 2007 10:49 PM

That Fred Thompson would even consider hiring a Rove snake is very telling of what kind of critter he is. Are there no decent people in politics today?

Posted by: Deathbyinches | May 30, 2007 10:59 PM

"And the Democratic Party didn't get rid of him. He only left because the Republicans wanted him to go elsewhere."

Wrong. The Republicans wanted him there in the first place because they wanted him there. The only thing that changed their minds (and therefore his) was the Democratic (plus a few Republicanists') uprising--which all pretty much got legs in the first place right here.

Ready, set, GO!

Posted by: widj | May 30, 2007 11:50 PM

Adios Tim, here's your hat now where's your hurry?

Posted by: Diogenes | May 31, 2007 06:46 AM

Don't let the door hit you in that fat ass of yours.

Posted by: Janus | May 31, 2007 09:53 AM

Tim will continue to have a dark cloud over his head until the allegations of voter "caging" in the last two presidential elections is resolved. He has had a rough go and needs to be cleared of these vicious rumors. This smart young man should not have to go through life with everyone questioning his dealings while employed by the RNC and Rove. Just like the fired US attorneys, he deserves to got his reputation back. Call Pryor and Lincoln and insist this be investigated immediately.

Pryor
501-324-6336
202-224-2353

Lincoln
501-375-2993
202-224-4843

Posted by: Peri Winkle | May 31, 2007 10:43 AM

YES, let's investigate EXACTLY what was done with those caging lists. Let's get the REAL story and make sure that if there was laws broken that people are prosecuted for it, no matter WHO it is.

(Let's hope Rove is implicated and prosecuted.)

Posted by: rablib | May 31, 2007 11:43 AM

This is so cool: after living here for ten years, I finally find a local blog that shows that some of us are interested in things that happen beyond the end of our driveways...so help me out here---whatever happened to Carolyn Staley? Was she not responsible for a huge mess involving voter registration?
And did she resign or was she fired? I can't believe I can't remember, so I need some FEEDBACK please.
Thanks!

ARK. BLOG: She did not seek re-election. One of her deputies was beaten in the election by Pat O'Brien, who has cleaned up the voter records.

Posted by: Bambic | June 1, 2007 04:45 PM

Griffin resigned because Greg Palast,author of Armed Madhouse, handed Chairman Conyers of the Congressional commitee Karl Rove's "missing" emails yesterday. Palast recieved them by accident when the emails were sent to rnc.com instead of .org. .com is a satire site. The commitee investigating election fraud, same that interviewed Monica Goodling, is outraged by their content, planning out the "caging lists" that kept at least 100,000 veterans and minorities from voting in 2000 and 2004 Presidential elections. The minute Griffin heard that the emails were being handed over, he ran like a scared rabbit. A cooked one. Rove seems cooked by this too as long as people keep talking about it. Go to Airamerica.com and check out Randi Rhodes site for more details.

Posted by: Lance M. | June 1, 2007 05:52 PM

Right, and thank you Ark. Blog and Lance M.
I've been a fan of Mr. Palast's for a few years now.
It was my sister, back in L.A. (where I'm from) who alerted me to what just happened with Griffin.
I wonder how Bud Cummins is feeling about all this...

Posted by: Bambic | June 1, 2007 06:21 PM

many thanks to the AT

damn good work

all i can say now is...

NEXT !

Posted by: muleboy303 | June 4, 2007 08:14 AM

Arkansas Blog

It's official

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